And I Always Will
by Ahsurika
Summary: Brother, friend, Probender, lover, detective, bodyguard…all that, and him just out of his teen years. Now, faced with the otherworldly power source threatening his home, he just might have a chance to figure himself out. A dramatization of Mako's scenes in The Last Stand.
1. The Chamber

**A/N: It took me the lifetime of the show's airing to work out exactly how I felt about Mako. This piece was as much an attempt to untangle those feelings as it was an exercise in character study.**

* * *

A grunt escaped Mako as his shoulder banged against unyielding platinum — he'd misjudged the distance between him and the cylindrical chamber's wall. Quickly he drew his legs behind him, avoiding a flurry of blades the size of his thumb.

They'd had the element of surprise, and he'd squandered it.

 _Fuck_.

He couldn't see Bolin, but he could hear the sounds of bending combat: the whistle of metal blades cutting the air and the wet, whirling hiss of his brother's lava. Beyond these, he had no way to know how that duel was progressing. He wouldn't know who'd won until the victor came around the great ball of entangled vines to finish off their remaining opponent.

If he and Bo could have fought together, like they'd always done…

Mako ducked as strips of metal whistled past him. One clipped his hip, sharp enough to part both fabric and skin with ease. He crouched further behind the pillar, which suddenly seemed _way_ too thin.

Hoping to distract his opponent, he flicked a pair of small fireballs at the Metalbender. The flames crashed uselessly against the soldier's cover, the sound of their impact muted against the snapping hum of the reactor.

 _Come_ on _, Mako. Korra's counting on you to take this thing out. The longer you take, the more the city suffers._

Another metal strip skipped off Mako's boot, clattering to the floor and leaving a score in the leather. If it had stuck, the Metalbender could have used it to drag him out into the open or fling him across the chamber into Bolin. Or into the formidable snapping energy of the vines.

 _Mako, FOCUS._

His foe was one of Kuvira's elite. Mako had studied them, his duty as Wu's primary bodyguard. They were accomplished fighters, aggressive, precise. As fanatically loyal to Kuvira as Amon's Equalists had been to him, but exponentially more disciplined, confident in their talents and technology. If this guy was the battle-hardened soldier Mako imagined him to be, he would never willingly move away from the lever.

 _Alright then._

Filling his lungs, Mako leaped out from cover.

First a defensive blast, a concussion to thrust his opponent's reactive blades aside. Two more, one each to the Metalbender's left and right to gauge his reflexes. The man didn't even flinch as he coolly fired a flurry of blades directly at Mako's head. Mako threw himself into a diving roll, his arm trailing as flames gathered in his fist —

Something slapped his wrist, and Mako released his fire early with a startled cry. The flames crashed into the tangled vines and exploded into thick smoke laced with purple sparks. _He hid one, half a beat behind the ones I just dodged. He's learning._

 _And my fire didn't do a thing to those damn vines._

He stopped suddenly and lunged to his right, putting the vines behind him. No such luck — his foe hurled another half dozen strips, forcing Mako to leap back. _So the metal won't affect them either. It's just me and him._

If the environment was irrelevant and the Metalbender couldn't be intimidated —

 _I can't believe I'm doing this._

Abandoning strategy, Mako propelled himself forward, rapidly closing to within arm's length of the surprised Metalbender. Few benders trained for close quarter combat, but he'd fought Equalists, the Dai Li, the best of the Red Lotus. He'd sparred with Korra.

His opponent hadn't.

The sound the man made as he hit the floor was wonderfully satisfying.

Kicking the fallen Metalbender aside, he darted over to the lever and grasped it. _We've got this_. "I'm ready!" _Come on Bo —_

"Be with you in one second! Kind of busy!"

A metallic snap echoed over the crackling vines, followed by a heavy thud. Mako waited, his nerves afire, recognizing the sound of a limp form hitting the floor. "Bolin!"

Then Bolin's voice. Mako's heart rose, only to sink like a stone when he registered his brother's words.

"Uh, I think we're in trouble!"

Breath ragged, Mako sprinted over to Bolin, skidding to a stop by the lever. Or rather, its twisted, curled remains. The dark grey core of the lever had been pulled out and was now entwined in the mangled steel armor of Bolin's unconscious foe.

From a single glance Mako knew that there was no way they could fix the lever in the time they had. Even Asami would need a workshop, assistants, time, no Metalbenders coming to kill her. He doubted that just he and Bolin could fix a mechanism like this _ever_.

 _This can't be happening…_

Bolin ran his hands over the lever, eyeing the metal that had been wrenched out of the cylinder. "Yup. Platinum shell, iron inside. Either too expensive to make it all platinum or just too difficult to manage without bending. Can't _imagine_ Bataar was dealing with budget cuts…" His shoulders slumped. "I must've clipped it with my lava and exposed the iron, and then this guy…even if I could Metalbend I couldn't fix this. And they didn't tell us another way to take this thing out."

"Quick, let's move," Mako said tersely, pointing toward a nearby console blinking with lights and buttons. "There's got to be some other way to shut down power from here. We're not out of this yet."

Bolin peered closely at the console. "Ummm…"

Mako stared at him, waiting for something, _anything_. When nothing more came, he growled, "Come on, you spent all that time working with Varrick and Baatar Jr., didn't any of their genius rub off on you? Wasn't this the thing they were working on?"

"Look, Varrick was impossible to follow," Bolin said, grabbing at his hair in frustration. "You know this isn't my thing, I wasn't around _this_ stuff much. The only thing I know about these vines is that if you mess around with them too much, they explode."

Explode? But how did you make something that looked to be _pure energy_ explode? His fireballs had just exploded on the outside. The whole United Forces expedition could throw themselves at it and probably just bounce off —

Unless.

A shiver ran through Mako. _My fire did nothing to the outside_. _What about from inside?_

"Get those guards out of here," he whispered. "I have an idea." _A stupid, dangerous idea_.

"Want to fill me in?"

 _No_.

There they were, at the top. Energy flowed upward through the regulators…the _platinum_ regulators. Immune to Metalbending and just about anything else a single bender could conjure up, but also incredibly conductive. They could take a lot of energy, but they _would_ take it, and when they finally overloaded…

"I'm gonna zap these vines with some electricity."

Mako refused to look away from the vines' sharp light, as if avoiding Bolin's expression could stamp out the sudden guilt he felt at dropping this on him. It didn't work. "Whoa, whoa, Mako, let's back it up, okay? I'm pretty sure that's the definition of 'messing too much' with them. I said _that_ will make the vines _explode_."

"Exactly." Mako pointed at the regulators. He turned back to his brother. "My fire didn't even scratch the vines, and those things are obviously used to handling more energy than I can throw at them."

"My lava didn't touch them either." Bolin grabbed his elbow. "Your lightning's just going to crash on the outside too. Maybe you take a few of the surface vines out along with you, but if this thing still works it _won't stop Kuvira_. We should join Korra and try to shut it down from the control room!"

Mako took a deep breath. _Composure. For him_. "I can do better than just hit it. I can feed it power until it the chamber can't contain it anymore. If it has more energy than it can deal with, the whole thing should explode, right?" Bolin's jaw dropped, and a wave of anger rushed through Mako. _Get out of here!_ "Look, I don't have time to argue! This is our only way of shutting this thing down."

"No! You can't!" Bolin's eyes were wide. "This isn't the time to prove how awesome you are. I already know how awesome you are." He looked down.

The vines hummed through their silence.

Mako's breath caught in his throat. "Bolin, I…I can handle it. And I will. I'm doing this. You…need to get out of here."

Bolin was staring at the floor, stricken. _Look at me, bro_. Mako was hit by the sudden realization that this might well be the last time they spoke.

"Okay."

He looked back up, his green eyes full of everything Mako didn't know how to say. _How do you sum up two decades of being a big brother to the best man in the world?_

"For the record —" Bolin sighed. "I do not approve. Just, get out as soon as you can. Promise?"

"Promise," Mako lied.

"I love you."

"I love you too," Mako said, his eyes already going to the vines. He had one shot to take these things out. "Now go!"

He began to weave his hands through the air, deepening his breathing as he picked the electrons from the air, gathered them between his fingers. Without knowing how much energy the vines could take, he'd need to start with the deepest breaths he could for a strong initial stream.

And Bo was right: he couldn't just generate lightning and release it into the vines. If they'd deflected his fire, they'd just absorb a single shot like that like.

He would have to maintain the flow.

Bolin had vanished from his view, Kuvira's unconscious elites gone as well. He'd be safe. _Strong guy. Always was._

His fingers trembled as the energy potential he'd gathered suddenly snapped, igniting into a jagged white bar that seared purple spots into his vision. Immediately Mako reached out to the wall behind him, conducting a crackling rhythm into the platinum walls.

As he bent his knees, anchoring his weight at the eye of a rapidly growing storm, the fear rose within him.

He'd never told Bolin; it wasn't really something Firebenders shared with people who didn't bend lightning. He wasn't sure even Korra knew. Lightning was impossible to use in the way people wielded normal fire, the way other benders seemed to use their elements. Wild, uncontrollable, it could only be unleashed, never manipulated; contained, never held. Once generated, the destructive energy either leaped to a target or simply exploded.

Lightning's secret was that it blasted its own path.

Most people who could generate lightning did so in brief bursts and at short distances, driving the energy out of their body and into a container. A truly skilled Firebender could sketch a more complex path, give it the imprint of predetermination or, as Mako did now, create a circuit. Offer the lightning several points, and it devoured the space between until one of the points gave out or was disintegrated by the raw power of the lightning itself.

Right now, he was one of those points. If he broke the circuit, the chamber would explode, and he'd be ripped apart.

But the vines wouldn't. Yet.

Taking a deep, choppy breath, Mako pulled power back from the floors and wall, channeling it into the vines' dazzling purple-pink heart.

The chamber buzzed into a tightening lattice of jagged white knives, the deadly bars ripping the air around him. Mako's muscles seized and jerked, drawn against his will into the lightning's growing strength. He struggled to remain in place, to anchor his body in the conduit he'd made. The heat stung his eyes, pulling out hot tears that disappeared in brief puffs whenever the lightning winked close enough to his face. Mako's heart hammered wildly, as if trying to get in as many beats as possible before it burned.

Before him, the vines glowed, the pink deepening angrily.

Pure energy, either his own lightning or excess from the vines, condensed around his outstretched arm before exploding into fire. Mako stumbled as it hungrily consumed fabric and flesh. Bright, sharp pain lanced up through his shoulder, but he held firm with gritted teeth.

Smoke, thin and black, rose from his arm. Red flesh sizzled in his vision, but he couldn't feel it anymore. A blessing.

A stray bolt punched through his thigh with a loud crack. Mako couldn't gather enough air to scream as his leg gave out, but he didn't fall. His heart hammered in his ears as new panic struck him — the only thing keeping him on his feet now was the crackling flow of his own electric circuit.

 _This is my duty. I have to do this._

A terrified warble bubbled up from his lungs and escaped, quickly lost in the raging storm. It was air that didn't go to his lightning, but he didn't give the wasted quarter-breath a second thought. He couldn't direct energy of this magnitude. He couldn't muster the courage to even try. This was beyond him. The vines flashed a ghostly lavender, their slippery and unfamiliar energy flooding his circuit, taunting him as it hardened his muscles to iron. He couldn't take his eyes off them.

The smell of burning hair. Charred flesh. His, all his. He was going to die here.

 _Not yet._

The vines' angry hum reached a fever pitch, blaring and spitting in his ears like a pack of enraged buzzard-wasps. He tasted fire on his tongue, felt the flames coat his throat every time he inhaled. He could no longer fill his lungs.

 _Not yet. Almost. There_.

His vision spiraled, blurring color and lines. The purple-pink glow pounded his brain as the spirit vines pulsed with the energy. How much could this thing _hold_?

 _NOT YET -_

Violet light glared from deep within the glowing vines. A deafening bang shattered Mako's eardrums, and for a moment he thought that was it, he'd stayed too long, handled too much energy -

\- but no, it was the energy regulators above the vines, and now they were ablaze, otherworldly fire rippling along their length.

 _Now!_

The world spun sickeningly, but he didn't fall. His legs were rigid, wouldn't respond, held in place by his own bending. He couldn't move. Couldn't escape.

Another crackling _boom_ , this time deep within the tangled vines, and the electricity holding him loosened.

He'd done it. He'd overloaded the vines.

Now the machine was seconds from exploding with the force of…Mako didn't know what, and he didn't want to learn. He needed to get out.

Bolts of lightning rocketed out of the vines, scoring vicious pits in the chamber wall. Even that reinforced platinum couldn't be capable of withstanding this kind of energy for long. Every shuffling step Mako took could be his last. He wasn't sure where he was going, if he'd make it. _Move_.

The hatch caught his eye. Bolin hadn't closed it, even though that would allow any explosion a funnel out of the chamber, something even _he_ would've known. Even though it meant that Bolin, weighed down by their unconscious enemies, might not be able to outrun it. Because having to open it again would've delayed his big brother a few seconds.

If Mako could drop down at the same time he released the lightning, he could break free without becoming a target.

He could see the ladder's top rungs, just a couple more steps — _thanks bro, I owe —_

An iron drill blazing into his side, blades churning his organs to hot liquid, lava blooming in his chest, the air ripped violently from his broken lungs.

His vision flashed wildly as he fell, lightning blasting out of his circuit as it shattered around him.

White fire scorched Mako's world away.

* * *

 _His muscles rattled as a train rode over them._

 _An explosion, a concussive slap to his brain._

 _Wind, rushing to battle with a roar as it charged past him._

 _Silence. Floating, supported by his brother's muscular arms, then the ground, firm against his back._

 _His eyelids fluttered. Shadows, but something else too. A pillar, the color of forests and flowers and healing, rising high into the sky. A gently glowing salve that bathed his charred flesh and nerves in cool light._

 _Quiet chimes ushered him into darkness._


	2. The Road

Far from the dance floor, standing next to the strings of blue lamps that surrounded the wedding reception, Mako waited for the fire.

It didn't matter whether he moved or not, or how cautious he was. In one form or another, it came. The needle-thin spike that lanced through his broken leg when he shifted his crutch. Or the low crackle of flames beneath the bandages on his arm, or the bloom of painful heat in his abdomen if he bent his torso the wrong way, or too fast, or sometimes at all. The last injury was the worst by far, the one that had nearly killed him.

 _An inch to the left, maybe less…any higher…you were lucky, Firebender. Beyond lucky. Using lightning like that…_

At least he was healing. Remarkably fast, actually, thanks to a host of Republic City doctors and United Forces medics who looked at him with awe shimmering in otherwise professional expressions.

Korra, he'd been told, had worked on him too, during those first couple hours when he lingered near death, his fried body still steaming. She hadn't admitted it when he'd asked her, the one time he'd seen her in the week since the battle, but he strongly suspected that it wasn't the doctors but she, exhausted, wounded, who had kept him from the brink. He knew she had that power.

Mako looked up, up past the Water Tribe wedding decorations, past the sunset-shadowed buildings of Airbender Island to the mellow glow of the portal occupying downtown Republic City.

 _She created that out of an explosion that should have melted half the city, after destroying a colossal mecha and dueling one of the strongest benders in the world. Then she came and healed me. And then returned to the city to immediately begin rebuilding._

What an Avatar she'd become.

He risked a glance away from the reassuring consistency of the lamps and was surprised to see the woman herself approaching. "Tired already?" Mako teased as she pulled up at his side.

"As if," Korra replied, rolling her eyes as she studied the lamps in front of them. "Figured it would be nice not to have to dodge elbows for a few minutes."

Sighing, Mako put his face in his hand. "Please tell me Zhu Li taught Varrick something before this evening."

Korra glanced back the way she'd come. "Actually, she…let's just say there's one thing she _can't_ do."

Surprised laughter erupted from Mako, the absurdity of Zhu Li being bad at something as funny as the mental image it brought. Burning needles in his lungs cut it short, squeezing tears from his eyes, but he waved Korra's concern away before she could move to help him. He needed this — he hadn't had a good laugh in a while.

"So, Wu's going back to the Earth Kingdom, to Ba Sing Se," Korra said after he'd recovered. "He said something about setting up a constitutional federation of cities…"

 _You don't have to tell_ me _._ "I thought he was joking at first, but…he'll do it, and he'll do a good job. If only so he can sing sooner, which he _will_ around you when you go to oversee his efforts." Mako chuckled again at the look on Korra's face. Spirits, he'd missed spending time with her. "No, I know. Wu's about as annoying as they come, but he's not an idiot. Well, usually. He's self-centered, but he's not selfish, and he knows when he's out of his depth, and between you and me —"

A ripple of pain, the buzzing in his head flaring into background noise. Wincing, he shifted his weight on his crutch. "He has a heart. Not clear how much he cares about his people, and you won't always — won't often — have fun working with him, but the result is almost—" He glanced at her and frowned. Korra was biting her upper lip, her expression a mix of amusement and trepidation.

 _Ah._ Mako closed his eyes, a wry almost-grin twisting his face. _Stop rambling, Mako_.

"You…didn't come over here to talk about _Wu_ , did you."

Korra folded her arms across her chest, sighing theatrically.

His cheeks heating up, Mako ran a shaking hand through his messy hair. He'd never been good at reading people, and Korra in particular. Give him a crime scene any day. Well, no. That'd be terrible. _Ugh_. "I just got the talk from Chief Beifong. She told me to take a few months and then get back to work." Instinctively he sought her out in the crowd, his detective's eyes darting from face to face as he scanned the partygoers, their colors flashing as they whirled, neon, crackling —

A mistake. Ringed splotches blocked his sight, and he swayed on his feet. Korra's strong arm steadied him — casually, he noted, so as not to draw attention from those around them who might interject their unwanted concern.

"I was about to ask about the arm, but that's obviously the least of it," Korra said.

Mako shrugged his good shoulder, uncomfortable under her steady gaze. "The bolt that got me in the stomach took me down, but I had a circuit running through me for over a minute. The doctors said —" _if I can't trust my own mind, what can I?_ "— they said that that much undiluted energy bouncing around in my body, in my _head_ …I got fried pretty bad."

He wondered what kind of police work the chief would let him handle. Not detective work — what little remained in the aftermath of such destruction, though that would change soon enough — and enforcement was out of the question, but —

Korra poked him in the forehead. Hard.

"I know what you're thinking. Don't. If Lin wants you back in action, she trusts that you can do it. And take it from someone who did some healing on you: you're all there."

Doubt still snaking through his thoughts, Mako weighed her words as if from a distance. The chief was the last person in Republic City he'd call unobservant, but there was no way for her to know what shape he'd be in two months from now. Still, this wasn't the time to argue. Not with Korra. "Fair point. Thanks."

Korra shifted suddenly, avoiding his eyes. "Speaking of, that's the real reason I came over. To…"

She took a deep breath, and when she spoke again her voice was quiet. "The words 'thank you' don't feel big enough for what you did." A brooding shadow flicked across her face before she continued. "Or 'I'm sorry', for what you're going through now. But I honestly don't know what else to say."

"You don't need to say anything," Mako said, and meant it. "I was where I needed to be, and you sent me and Bo because we were the best option."

"I'd do it again."

"So would I." Mako cocked his head, meeting her eyes directly. "I want you to know, I'll follow you into battle. No matter how crazy things get, no matter what odds you face. I've got your back, Korra, and I always will."

The look that bloomed on Korra's face could melt snow, the sun breaking through a spring rain. "You know I can't ask for that."

Mako nodded. "And you'll never have to."

The world inhaled, and in that beat they understood each other perfectly.

Then Korra's smile turned wicked. "You seem awfully sure that I'll need the help."

Mako snickered. "Unless the lightning messed up my eyes as well, you have to rebuild half a city without offending either type of resident."

He paused, considering. "And if I know Asami, she's already picked up a hundred building contracts." Probably a lot more, by now — Asami's business acumen rivaled or surpassed Varrick's, and her influence in the city had grown enormous _before_ she played a crucial role in taking down the Colossus. He didn't envy Korra's position. "I hope you're looking forward to _long_ hours negotiating with her."

For some reason Korra looked suddenly uncertain. "Y-yeah," she said with a shy laugh, a hand drifting to her hair. "Asami and I…yeah, we have...a lot to discuss. I h- I think."

 _Huh? What does_ she _have to be worried about?_ "Well, since you seem to be in the business of making night lamps, I can offer a great deal of expertise," Mako quipped, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the portal. "Plenty of experience making our city safe by lighting the place up." The chamber, the flashing cage of energy. Shaking his head, he let out a short, bitter laugh. "I charge an arm and a leg, though."

Korra only nodded, her kind blue eyes acknowledging him without judgment, and Mako's forced smile loosened into sincerity. They'd fought together against Kuvira so seamlessly, and Korra had accomplished so much in the battle, that he'd almost overlooked _why_ she'd been gone for three years.

It was one thing to know, rationally, that he _could_ recover from what the lightning and vines had done to him. He could tell himself that the wounds would heal, that the buzzing would stop, and that worked for a few minutes, an hour at a time. But to see Korra, at ease in her radiant beauty and power, tall under the weight of what _she'd_ lived through…it would take time, but he could imagine a day in which he might start to actually believe it.

Korra slid a firm hand onto his unbandaged shoulder and squeezed. "Hey, I…know I'm not exactly in the best position to say this, like _really_ not, but don't hesitate to reach out to us. If you need to do this alone, believe me, I understand, but we'll be here." She smiled encouragement. "Me, Bolin, Asami, Tenzin. Even Lin. We're your friends. We have your back, too."

Mako shook his head. "No, you _are_ the best person to say it. You know what I'm facing better than I do. And thanks. I mean it. More than I can say. Thank you."

 _I'm rambling. But she gets that too._

He gently shrugged off her hand, motioning toward the dance floor. "Go. They're waiting for you."

"I could send someone else over to keep you company," Korra said, a teasing lilt in her tone. "I suspect Bolin hasn't mentioned he has _quite_ the date with Opal—"

Mako groaned. Awesome as Opal's vacation to the Eastern Air Temple sounded, he'd heard his brother describe it so many times he was starting to think he'd watched her propose it despite being unconscious at the time. " _Go dance_."

She turned away laughing.

He watched as she bounded off to the dance floor, quickly moving to join Asami. Or rather, rejoin. Hadn't he seen them dancing earlier, soon after Varrick and Zhu Li took the floor, and then again before Chief Beifong had come up to him?

The two of them had to be keenly aware of the vicious conflicts that reconstruction would bring. Republic City's citizens on one side and the spirits on the other, with the Avatar and the world's biggest industry leader in the middle. Maybe that was why they were spending so much time together, to stave off the inevitable. Korra _had_ looked strangely nervous when he brought it up. He hoped that whatever had her like that, it wouldn't harm her friendship with Asami.

A concern for another time. Not tonight.

The music changed, energetic jazz slowing to a more intimate tune. To his surprise, he could watch Korra and Asami in their blue and red, Bolin and Opal in their varied greens and browns, the flurry of color from the rest of the dancers, without returning immediately to the Colossus' core chamber and his own electric cage. The relief was temporary for him, Mako knew, the fire and pain bound to hit him again. It would for months to come, maybe longer.

But for now, he'd cling to this buoyant moment of tranquil energy. For as long as he could.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! And yes, while Mako may be a shrewd detective, in some respects he is still completely and utterly oblivious.**


End file.
